ye haue dalyed to long ye haue dissimuled to lōg ye haue haulted on both sydes to long I pray God that you maye yet remembre the cōmen prouerbe that affirmeth euer to be better than neuer yet may you be Paul yf Christ wyll And I praye you to be no more offended with thys my wrytyng than ye woulde haue me to be offended with youre sermon I forgiue you on my parte and I pray God forgeue you also I pray you to do lykewyse vnto me For surely if ye be so wise a mā as ye are estemed ye woll rather couet to loke in a trew glasse than in a flatteryng myrrour But thorow your good pacience I muste go about to pourge out that same lytle leauen that you hyd of late purposely in the dowghy lumpe of your pharasaicall sermon Why do not you yourselfe knowe but euery Christian knoweth that it is a sower leuenouse doctrine to alter the institution fo the Lordes supper And you knewe wel ynough that all papistes and al the vnlearned people take this worde consecratinge for transubstantiatyng changing or alteryng of the sacramental bread and wyne into the very natural bodye of Christe and as they call it fleshe bloude and bone But I praye you was this well done of you or where foūde you the worde Consecrating of yours But I am sure ye wyll say that it counteruaileth benedixit whiche signifieth also in Englysh he blessed Wel I wyl graunt al that but why than dyd you wrest the blessynge into consecration Mary bicause it was a more glad some euangeli for your disciples a more to the some swillig for your hoggy she Massers but thākes be to the lord the triumph was but short and the banket but a dreame But paraduenture you wyl relent som what and yelde so far by cause ye can donone other as to forgo this worde Consecratynge so that ye maye haue blessynge for it Than ye wil procede and say that he blessed hymselfe whiche after youre mynde is all one in effecte as the Euangelist had said he consecrated hymselfe why than be it so for a whyle yet But than from whence conueyed you in that worde himselfe for there is no suche woorde in the texte but thā wil you straight way say there is panis breade in the texte That do I graunte also neuērthelesse you spell to wel and put to gether to fast if that ye wyl saye he blessed the bread I praye you of whence haue you the woorde he blessed Mary of benedixit but I pray you farther by cause ye be learned in the tongues tel me yet of whence had you that benedixit you wyll say of eulogese the Greke worde whiche betokeneth in Engloshe he blessed he praysed or he spake wel of Wel in so much that you tolde me what answered to benedixit in the Greke texte I wyl lykewyse tell you what answereth to it in the Hebrue For I am assured ye wil not denye but Matthew wrote his Gospell in hebrewe And wryteth ueieuarech for et benedirit and he blessed How be it the Hebrue verbe barech betoke neth as wel and as indifferentlye gratias egit he gaue thankes as he blessed whā that soeuer the place may suffre to be so vnderstande And I praye you what place els in the whole scripture may better suffer yea or rather dothe require 〈…〉 barech to signifie to geue thankes more than this same place dothe I praye you was not euen the same Iesus Christ before this tyme of his laste supper accustomed to geue thankes vnto his heauenly father at receyuyng of his bodely sustenaunce or not you woll paraduenture say nay No but than on what shall we grounde oure godly custome of saying Grace or geuyng thankes vnto God at meate tyme It semeth to me that that laudable and godly ceremouye as an imitacion of Christes owne maner came vp emong the Christians euen from his tyme. For the Euangelist Matthew in the rxvi cap sayeth Wcheshamer weth-tehillah that is whan they had sayde prayse whā they said grace or whan they had geuen thākes erge there were more than Christe hymselfe And who shoulde they be but the Apostles whiche as it be cōeth a disciple folowed their masters trade so successiuely the christians accustomed thēselfes after the maner vntyll this day Yee but thā wil you say the ther be .ii. kynd of Graces one sayde after meate named Gratias actiorū a thankes geuyng and an other sayd before meate called Consecratio mense the consecration of the table the blessyng or halwyng of the meat Now by all halowes it passeth my braines to auoide thys blyssynge and halowyng of yours onles I halowe out on the Angell of heauen who and you will accepte it shall answer you with the same wordes as he spake to Peter whā he was of your opinion his wordes were these what God hath clensed call not thou comun or vncleane To the which Sainct Paule subscribeth on this wyse All the treatures of God are good 1. Tim. iiii Than yf all maner of fourfoted beastes of the earth and vermen Actuū .x. and wormes and foules of the ayer be cleane And yf all the creatures of God be good what neade thei than so muche of our blessing and halowyng but we oughte in very dede to render most hyghest thankes vnto God for his bounteouse lyberalitee of his creatures whom we haue the fruitiō not only in our dayly fode but in the rest of our sustentatiō Agayne Matthew writeth in the .xv. chapter of his gospell That Christ toke seuen loues in his handes and seuē fyshes gaue thankes But here the Euangelyste ded not vse uaiebarech whiche you expounde always he blyssed but uaiomer todha which is after the hebrue phrase and sayeng knowledge and after the Englyshe speache he gaue thankes But paraduenture you wyll englyshe it that he was confessed than or sayd his confiteor But what should I make so many wordes of the hebrue phrase of barech for haue not we borowed the same phrase of the Hebrues and do euen vse it right well in the cōmen speache whan we speake on this sorte Nowe we haue dyned blessed be God or thus My Lord Protectors grace hath had a faire day on our enemyes blessed be God and sende vs styll scoch newes And what do we meane by this blessed be God but thankes be geuen vnto God for his benefites that he vouch saued to bestow theym on vs that so vnworthely haue deserued them at his hand And therefore we can do no lesse at the rehersal of so many benefites seyng we acknowledge that that we receyued them al together of him as it wer in a recompence but saye blessed be God or thāked be God which is all one effecte sauing the one is the phrase of the Hebrues and the other the verye englyshe phrase And after this maner is the woorde blissed take in the .xlvii. chapter of Genesis wheare it is wrytten Ioseph brought
in / Iacob his father set him before Pharao and blessed Pharao which was as who say in english he thanked Pharao for so manye benefites shewed vnto his father Lyke wyse is it most euident that blesse must be taken for geuyng thankes in the Psalm C.iii. whiche begynneth Blesse the lorde O my soule and al that is with in me / blesse his holy name Blesse the Lorde O my soule / and forget not all his benefits whiche forgeueth all thy synnes / and healeth al thyne infirmites Whiche saueth thy lyfe from destructiō / and crownethe the with mercy louing kyndnes whiche satisfieth thy desire with good thinges / makynge the yonge and lusty as an Egle. c. Wo therfore be to al the wresters of the worde of God And twyse wo vnto him the purposelye depraueth the same I praye you why woulde you not call the woordes of consecration the wordes of christifi eng or the wordes of creatyng of Christ or the wordes that make christ a new No no ye wer wyser thā so for than dame Hypocrisye coulde neuer so smothely haue crepte in nor so manye hundreth yeares haue continued And euen lyke sleyght ye practysed whan ye vsed the straunge vocable Exorcizo te for coniuro te I coniure the c. for we shoulde neuer haue strayed so far the coniuryng terme knowen as to say A qua benedicta sit nobis salus et uita The holy water be oure health and lyfe Alas alas what seas of myschiefes haue we runne headlyng into by reason of youre straunge termes whiche yf I should prosecute to reherse one by one I shoulde rather be tediouse vnto the reader than perswade you to take your penne to wryte for to redresse the same Such stiffe obstinacie the more to be pytyed is so euidetly seene in you I pray God yet of his tender clemencye to souple a lytle the Pharao hardnes of your flynty harte But away than with your papistical cō secratyng away with your hypocritical Necromancia coniuryng Away with al such couloured holynes God can not be mocked Galat. vt Therfore it wyl not preuayle you to prattle to hym saycnge Lorde Lorde haue not we prophecied in thy name haue not we cast out deuiles thorow thi name And done many miracles thorow thy name For than wyll he answere you euē thus For all youre phantasticall preachynge for all your holy consecratyng and for all youre coloured cuniuryng I neuer knew you departe from me ye that worke iniquitie But how long wyll you de voyde of the Lordes feare-how long wyll you defye hys louynge kyndnes And how long wyll you abuse his most holi word But yet take hede take bede in the meane whyle lest an euil sprite saye vnto you Iesus I knowe Paule I know but who are ye And with that for deprauynge of their woordes haue power to runne on you and wounde you But to returne to the propose Nowe paraduenture for all this spelling of the mater the papistes be scant yet wholy resolued wherfore we must diuine by what meanes Christe woordes at his laste supper began to be called nerba consecrationis the workes of consecration And I saye they mought wel be called so yf thei wer vnderstande ment and construed after the true meanyng of the Hebrue speach that is uerba consecrationis .i. uerba cōsecrata hoc est uerba sacra the sacred words And So ought all the woordes of the holy scripture be named as well as they But now to confirme that the hebrues vsed suche maner of speach neadeth no probacion But yet for their sake that be not much cō ucrsant in readynge of the holye scripture which euery wher is euē ful of suche phr ases we wyl adde an example or two Math. xxiiii Whan ye shall se the abomination of desolation Whiche shulde be englyshed whan ye shall se the abhominable desolacion And after the maner of the same language spake Paule thoughe he wrote in an other tongue to the Romaynes cap. vii O wretched man that I am sayeth he who shall delyuer me from this body of death That is frome thys deadlye or mortall body So Dauid hath in the fyrst verse of the .xv. Psalme Lorde who shal be receined into thy pauilyon or who shall dwell in the mountayne of thy holynesse Wher the Englyshe tongue woulde requyre it to be translated in thy holye mountayne But yet in as moche as euery mā for whose behofe the holye scripture is indifferently wrytten and preāched doth not vnderstand the same Hebrew phrase let vs no more chop change with speches Let vs no more make the vocables and termes of the hyghe mysteries of our Religion more mysticall and confuse than Christe hymsel euer made theim Let vs neyther adde nor take ought awaye frome the worde of God lest we shal be accursed not of the Pope whiche is not wont to accurse for suche mattiers but of GOD. Therefore I praye you for the reuerence that ye owe vnto the trueth I meane vnto Iesus Christ the verye truethe that ye wyll no longer vsurpe nor practice the darke termes and as they be comenly taken wicked the termes I say of consecratynge or as you commenly call theym the wordes of consecration I praye you euen for Iesus Christes sake to forgo suche popyshe termynge And call theym whan neade shall requyre to talke of theym whether soeuer ye will the holy woordes or the woordes of holy scripture And if ye must neade yet a whyle name theym by a diffuse and a straunge terme call theym the Sacred wordes and I am assured ye maye awaye wyth Sacred because he semeth to be nere of kinne to maister Sacryng your good lorde The Popes owne derely beloued countrey papistes who made and sette fourth of late the Romyshe Constitutions called for the meane seasone were euen ashamed to vsurpe any longer the termes of verba concecrationis in their booke * Called Interim but the same haue they as it were abholyshed abrogated namynge theym by a newe terme but more tollerable lesse odible to christē mens eares Yet are not these popish priestlynges nothing abashed to terme Christes wordes as they wil them selfes Therfore O ye al godli prie stes that pretende to be of Christs congregaciō do away such fonde termes Play no more the popish prie stes with so many external blessing crossing with your outwarde wassyng shauyng Cesse of your mūbling of straūgelangages before the congregaciō Play no more I sai Aarons priestes with your dedicated tēples with seuered chaūcels with your carnal frequented sacrifices with your prescrpition of vestures of time of meates of fasting fasting dayes Hebre. x. for these wer but shadowes of good thinges to come whiche be also come already the cloudi night is past the gladsom dai is sprong Iohn xii let vs walke in the lyght while we haue the lyght among vs lest the darknesse come on vs. For he
that walketh ī darnes woteth not whether he goeth And while we haue light let vs beleue in the lighte that we maye be chyldren of lyght And this is the condempnation that after the lyght hath come into the worlde men haue yet styll loued darkenes rather than lyghte We be past chyldehod away than wyth childish phantasyes For the houre commeth and now is Iohn iiii whan the true worshippers worshipp the father in spirite and in truth For he as a sprete and therefore loueth he no carnal thynges nor outward thynges but spirituall thynges and inwarde thinges Therfore al you that be called and chosen to be the ministers of Christe and the Stewardes of hys secrets 1. Cor. iiii whan you shall ministre the Lordes supper you may teherse and alledge Christes holy woordes vnto them after this maner Good Christen brethren this godly Institucion of eatynge the Lordes supper came not vp at the fyrst of mannes inuētion nor was not maintened bymānes pollicie nor continued so many yeares as diuerse other blynde cetemoniall customes dyd withoute playne auctoritie of GODS mooste holy worde Therfore dare not I no more than Saynt Paul for feare of beinge founde an vnfaytheful stewarde and a counterfayte executour of the Lordes new Testament and last wyll alledge and bryng in for thastablyshment of receyuyng this moost comfortable supper any wordes ymagined of mannes braynes appeare neuer so eloquent neuer so holylyke or neuer so gloriouse but euen the veray pure and holy woordes spoken of Christe himselfe the same nyghte that he was betrayed and afterward most faythfully wryten by his owne disciples our Euangelistes and nowe at the laste by GODS grace by me pronounced worde for woorde as the texte of the Lorde Iesus Christes newe Testament declareth theym Therfore good Christians lyft vp your hartes to Godwarde that ye maye heare his holye woordes wyth the eare of faythe and that you maye take them for the stedfast ground-werke of your buyldyng for the originall auctoritie for the trew report the directe lyne that iust squiere the vndeceyuable compasse and the verye lymites of the true vnderstandynge and sincere meanynge of the effectualll signification of eatyng the Lordes supper But hearken nowe to the holy wordes of the auctoritie whiche ye shall fynde wrytten in the .xxvi. chapter of Matthewe the .xiiii. of Marke the .xxii. of Luke the .vi. of Iohn and in the eleuenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthi 〈…〉 And as they dyd eate / Iesus toke bread whā he had geuen thankes he brake it / gaue it to the disciples / sayd Take / eate / thys is my bodye / whiche is geuen for you This do / in the remembraunce of me Lykewise also whā he had supped / he toke the cuppe thanked / sayeng drynke ye all of this For this cup is the new testament in my bloude / whiche is shedde for many / for the remissiō of synnes Verely I saye vnto you I wil drinke no more of the frute of the vyne tree vntill that day I drynke it newe in the kyngdome of God Verely verely he that putteth his trust in me / hathe euerlastinge life I am that bread of life / whiche came doune from heauē If any man eate of thys bread he shal not die / but shall haue life for euer And the breade that I wyll geue / is my fleshe / whiche I wil geue for the lyfe of the world Verely verely I saye vnto you / excepte ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man / and drinke his bloud / ye haue no life in you whosoeuer eateth my fleshe / drynketh my bloud / hath eternall lyfe / and I wil rayse hym vp at the last day For my fleshe is meate in dede / and my bloud is drinke in dede He that eateth my fleshe / drynketh my bloud / dwelleth in me / I in him Doeth this offende you What if ye se the sonne of man ascende vp thether wher he was before It is the sprete that quickeneth / the fleshe profyteth nothyng The wordes that I speke vnto you / are spirite and lyfe But there are some of you / that beleue not Hetherto haue I rehersed vnto you the veray wordes of the Lorde as for moost infallible principles of the chyefe Authore of the Christians doctrine as a veray testimoniall of his inestimable loue towarde mankynde and as the wordes of C̄hristes cōmission wherby we dare enterpryse to approche to the Lordes table and there to eate the Lordes body as it was crucyfied on the crosse and drynke his veray bloud the was shed for oure redemption who wer borne by nature the children of wrath and his veray enemyes This must we do for the remembraunce of his most beneficial death and neuer ceasse vntyll the Lorde come For there is not a more odiouse nor so hatefull a thyng eyther vnto God or man as the vice of ingratitude beastely vnkyndnes which is nothing els but the forgetfulnes of benefits employed the vnthankefulnes for good tournes vndeseruedly shewed And as he that yet bāketeth being not an hōgred hapneth some tyme to take surfet vntyll the death of his body Euē so he that eateth this supper not dryuen to with spirituall hongre taketh deadely surfet of his soule And contraryly as the bodely meat eaten of our hongry stomackes is sone disgested and norysheth our bodyes so the fleshe and bloud of Christ eatē of vs with a spirituall hongry desier norysheth our soules into euerlastyng lyfe Amen Here haue I treacted somwhat largier of the Lordes supper than I had entended for I proposed nothynge els but to touche a lytle euen superficially of the termes that wer so impudently and vnshamefastly abused of the Archepapist which termes the preacher at Paules Crosse as I heard saye pretermitted to speake of though he questionles ful entierly pyththely handled and confoūded the rest of his sermon But by like eyther the prescription of the accustomed tyme beynge scarce for to repete in the whole rablemente of that papistical sermon the same vtterly to cōfute either els the childyshe and vnlerned rudenes of the sayde termes made hym as he is verely a mā so highly learned rather to wynke at theim neglect theim than vnworthely to spende any tyme in disputyng aboute so grosse so playne and so tryflynge a matter Therfore I praye God sende vs lesse acquayntance with suche preachers as the fourther was and more familiaritee with al those that be of that christian crudition and godlye conuersacion as the later was Amen FINIS O ye folyshe Galathians / who hathbe witched yon / that ye shuld not beleue the trueth Gala. 3.5 ye ranne wel / who was a let vnto you / that ye shulde not obey the trueth Suche coūsell is not of him that called you A lytel leuen sowreth the wholelompe of dowe I haue truste towarde the Lorde that ye wylbe none otherwise minded But he that troubleth you shall beare hys iudgement / what so euer he be Whatsoeuer thynges are wrytten afore tyme / they are writen for oure learnyng Rome .xv. Beware of false prophetes / whiche come to you in shepes clothing / but in wardli they are rauening wolues Ye shall knowe theym by their fruites ¶ Imprynted at London in Foster lane by Iohn Wally